terrible 2's

Wow im a mess today! Posted about my husband, my 5 year old twins and now my 2 year old. Maybe I need a vacation!

I never dealt with any behavior problems with the boys when they were younger. We never had a "terrible 2" stage. With my little guy now hes almost 2 1/2 and has the BIGGEST attitude problem. He does NOT like to her the word no! As long as hes getting his way hes totally fine and happy but if something goes wrong he gets very angry. He likes to tell everyone NO! He will hit and kick. I've tried time outs with him but even after putting him back into time out for for millionth time he still gets back up. So much for that supernanny trick. Im home alone all day with the 3 boys so if Im trying to deal with him and my 5 year olds start acting up Im then dividing my time between punishments. I find myself screaming all day long. So not the mom I wanted to be.

My little guy also likes to mimic his older brothers bad behavior which right now is in full effect! I have a case of the terrible 2's and 5's at my house right now and Im just at a total loss.

How are you handling this?

 

You might have to physically restrain him in Time Out. Do you have a booster chair that you can belt him in? A safe room that you can keep the door shut and him on the other side of it?

 

Im thinking about keeping his car seat home during the day so I can strap him in there if necessary.

 

You could also do a time in for the little one. Basically remove him from the whole play situation and keep him with you while you do something mundane like make lunch, read a book, etc.

 

I am very sorry that I cannot help with your 5 year olds (have not been there yet). For your 2 1/2 year old, I think the key is to remember that it is all a test (this is what I keep trying to tell my husband, anyway). 2 1/2 year olds, imho, want to know what are the limits. (Is it okay if I scream at the top of my lungs or spill my cereal all over the floor? How about if I scream outside or spill my drink outside? How many times can I get away with x and what happens if I do x and y together? What happens if I argue back?) Add to this mix, the difficulty of understanding as a 2 1/2 year old and then expressing those feelings in the limited vocabulary of a 2 1/2 year old and you have the terrible 2's.

My advice is to keep being consistent. If timeout's are your chosen method, keep at it so that he knows that misbehavior means a timeout (I try not to worry too much about the where, but concentrate more on the idea that my lo is going to be placed in a neutral area for some needed time away). Try taking away offending items (toys, tv, playtime). Also distraction is great or turning it into a silly moment or tickle fest. Finally, I try to develop the habit of a plain old stern talking. I get down on my lo's level, have him or her look me in the eye and then I tell him or her the behavior is in no way acceptable. For me, I prefer if they repeat the rule so that I know they understand what behavior they did was unacceptable (you would not believe some of the "answers" I got). And I usually add in my sternest tone, a warning not to do it again.

For me, this age is very challenging but I believe that what they ultimately want is for the parent to show them the right way to behave and the consequences if they do not. GL!